by Belle Harper
“Lexi, when you first came to Kiba we got off on the wrong foot.” I chuckled, yeah you could say that. “But, you were stubborn, and wild. You didn’t care about rules or authority. You live your life according to you. It scared me, because I knew in my heart you were made for me.” My hand went to my chest. Tears stay back just for a little bit more.
“So when you kissed me— even though I totally cheated with spin the bottle, don’t tell my brother.” Ranger called out hey, and I laughed. That was the truth or dare game that Ranger had started, and I picked dare. Maverick dared me to play spin the bottle, and whoever it lands on is the one you don’t kiss. He cheated?
“You helped open me up, made me feel whole. You are the star in my night sky, Lexi. Guiding me home.”
Tears fell I couldn’t help it, I knew what he was saying about me… Galen.
“Will you be mine?” I nodded and everyone cheered. I jumped up into his arms before he was ready and took him off guard.
“Yes, always yes.”
Chapter Fifty-Two
Galen
Before Lexi, I didn’t let myself get too close, even with the pack. I tried not to get close, because you never know who will fail you, leave you. Ranger though didn’t get that memo and drove me crazy for the last five years, more so in the past year. And every time he calls me an old man… well, it makes me happy.
He wasn’t doing it to upset me, or in teasing. He did it because that was just another way in which Ranger showed you that he liked you. And he must have liked me plenty, he took my history class after all.
“Hurry up, old man,” he grumbled, Maverick was still having his moment with Lexi. But I knew it was my turn, I asked to go last. Ranger wanted to be first. Although after Raff’s then Mav’s speech, I knew he was rethinking his speech. It wasn’t the same as the other two. But it was Ranger. Fuck, I didn’t even know if I wanted to go after Raff and Mav. Those were very hard to follow.
Technically I didn’t have to “claim” Lexi, I wasn’t a shifter. But Alaric had said it was good for the unity, to see me claim her openly would solidify my position in the pack. And I wanted to keep my position, I was now working with the council on matters. And Shelly had said she thinks she had found a replacement vamp for high school. Just was making sure it was final. I was glad this meant I could fully cut ties with the school, I would take Lexi to prom. If there were issues, I would compel all the teachers. Easy. I rolled my eyes, no it wouldn’t be. I was just banking on them turning a blind eye now I wasn’t a teacher there anymore.
“Maverick, I will take it from here.” I stepped forward and held my hand out to Lexi. She placed her warm hands in my cold ones, I didn’t drink today. I didn’t want to. She told me she didn’t mind the cold, and the others hadn’t complained when they touched me either, so I hadn’t been drinking to warm myself.
“Galen, here,” I dropped one of her hands as Mav handed me the microphone. There were things I couldn’t say in front of the humans, but I would tell them to her privately.
She wiped a few happy tears away. Her eye make-up was smudged. But she looked beautiful. No doubt about it.
“Lexi Turner,” I said into the microphone and everyone quietened down. She smiled and murmured, “Mr Donovani.” Fuck… why did that always go straight to my cock when she said that. She gave me a teasing smile. And I cleared my throat.
“When I first… saw you.” Smelled you. Fuck, this was hard, but she understood my meaning by the way she nodded. “I had never seen someone so sure of herself. You had me entranced and intrigued by this mystery that is you, love” She always gave off this sweeter smell when I called her love. So I did it at every chance I got.
“When I took you for breakfast, and you asked if I sparkled, I knew then that I would go to the end of the earth for you. Even if it was so you could tell me you didn’t like my type again, but I knew deep down, you wouldn’t have stayed if you did.” The huge grin on her face made me chuckle at the memory.
“I didn’t want to waste a really good breakfast.” Some of the shifters chuckled at that. My heart was racing but I already knew she would say yes, to prom, to claiming her.
“You see me as a man who has worth, my past long forgotten, and a future written with yours. Would you do me the honor of being your date for the prom? And a forever with you?”
She rushed at me and bumped the microphone. I threw it towards Jett, who was standing to the side now. Her warm hands pulled at my neck to lower my face to hers. We were so close in height, but she was smaller than all four of us. I loved that about her; she was tiny but tough.
When she pressed her forehead to mine, this huge grin, and her eyes tearing up again, I could feel her, inside. I felt what she was thinking, how happy she was, the love she had for me so powerful. I let out a shuddering breath. I never knew someone could love me that strongly and without fault.
“Forever always, Mr Donovani.” I could feel my fangs itching to descend, so I kissed her. Hard and fast in the hopes they wouldn’t. We got lost in each other, the cheering and stuff fading to the background.
I pulled away and saw her dazed eyes and swollen lips, and she smiled up at me like I hung the moon and the stars. Whereas it was she who had hung them all for me. I could hear the confusion from some of the females, about how Lexi had four guys, and it wasn’t fair. One called her a name that no woman ever should be called. It was wrong, and luckily Nash was onto it fast. He took her and led her to the gate. Lexi wouldn’t know any different.
This was the way of life here with the packs. If human girls didn’t like it, they wouldn’t ever fit in. So best to remove any negativity they had at sharing mates.
“Okay, that’s all the entertainment for promposals and love declaring. Now let’s get this party really started. My brother Ranger has found some fireworks—” I turned and eyed Ranger, he was told to take them back and get balloons, he brought back the balloons but obviously he brought the fireworks back as well. He shrugged and held his hands up, I glared at him and he gave me a challenging look.
“—so we are really gonna have some fun tonight. Stick around for the show.”
Everyone cheered, and I just shook my head and smiled as Lexi laughed.
“Oh, you don’t approve?” she poked me. “Old man.” She bit her lower lip; she was teasing me. Cheeky girl. Her cheeks pinked as she opened her mouth to say more, but before she had a chance, I kissed her, until she was speechless and moaning against my lips.
I wanted to take her to bed and kiss her lower, much lower. After that night with Mav I couldn’t stop thinking about it. But I had told myself I wasn’t going to go further. Not yet. I was waiting until her birthday. It just felt… wrong. My age, her youth. I wouldn’t take her a day earlier than her eighteenth birthday, and I think she knew that. She hadn’t pushed me, not that she would.
But on Tuesday, I had a surprise for her, and I hope it didn’t change anything when I gave it to her. I knew she didn’t like me buying her things, but this was a little different. It was her birthday.
And she deserved the world.
Chapter Fifty-Three
Lexi
I found Ada, she was standing by herself in the corner of the kitchen, when she saw me she smiled.
“Oh my gosh, that was better than I imagined. Congratulations!” Huh? Better than she imagined. Did she know?
“You knew?” And she kept it a secret, I swear Galen better not have compelled her.
She giggled and wrapped me in a hug.
“Well, duh. In what world does it make sense to get ready at my place… all afternoon when there is a party at your house? And seriously, I tried on so many tops I thought you were going to die of boredom. If it wasn’t for the fact that I drove you, I for sure thought you would have run away screaming.” I laughed and hugged her tighter.
“You knew the whole time, and I spent most that time complaining about them not asking me.” It was funny how something I didn’t want to do, turned into someth
ing I wanted more than I thought. The prom wasn’t important to me, but when I was presented with the chance, I wanted to. It was like a normal thing for a high schooler, prom, graduate… go to college.
Which was something I was going to ask Alaric about. Because if we could go to Port Angeles to shop when it was okay with the bear shifters, maybe we could go to the college there. I could join Ada, and I didn’t even care if I joined the same classes as her, as long as I got to go.
Because that was the thing most important to me, coming here I had two goals. I wanted to pass high school and go to college. I wanted to succeed at life; I didn’t want to be… like my mother. I wanted to have an education that could set me up with a career. But now, with everything that I was, my powers of healing. I knew there was some good I could do in the world. Even if it was only for the shifters of Kiba… Rawlins, Kenneally. I wanted to help.
I rested against the counter and looked over to Ada, I knew she was upset with that girl touching Noah. But she needed to figure it out. One thing, Saint seemed to have backed off. I didn’t know if that made Ada happy or not. She hadn’t really said much about it.
The door opened and closed, and I saw Ada stiffen. Oh, Noah. I turned, expecting it to be him, but it wasn’t.
“Yeah, you bitch thought you won. You might have the Kiba boys at school wrapped around your finger, but not all of them.” The fuck? Olivia. I looked at Ada. She had hurt her. And now someone invited her here, to hurt Ada and me?
“You don’t have the power here, I do. I was here first, I fucked Ranger first. And I took Maverick’s virginity. I was here before and I will be here after you. You are just a fun toy to play with before they are both mine.”
Who in their right mind would have invited Olivia? The door opened and in rushed Maverick and Saint. Good, they could get rid of her, because she was destroying what was supposed to be my night. I just… I looked up and tried to calm my anger. This girl had no clue, none. She had no self-respect, and I didn’t think anything I said or did would ever change her mind.
“What the fuck are you doing here, you are not welcome here, Olivia.” She smiled sweetly and sauntered over to him like that would change his mind. Jealously reared up in me and I felt my skin prickle. She’d better not touch him, he was mine.
“Saint invited me, he asked me to prom. I accepted, I knew how close you two were. I was hoping the three of us could go together.”
Maverick turned to Saint, his face was impassive. No emotions, as he stared right past me to Ada. I heard her make a small sound before she ran off up the stairs. He watched her as Maverick yelled at him.
“You’re a fucking prick,” was all I said to him as I took off after Ada. I couldn’t believe he did that. Especially after what she did to Ada.
“Ada?” I looked in my room and I couldn’t see her. Shit. “Ada?” I heard a door open, and I turned to see Lyell looking out from his room. He waved at me and pointed inside his room. I rushed over to see Ada curled up on his bed, sobbing. He smiled sadly at me.
“I think she accidently came in here thinking it was your room.” I nodded, it was right next to my room. If you weren’t thinking straight, it was easy to miss.
“Welcome to the family, Lexi. I am glad my brothers claimed you. You’re good for them.” I think that was the most amount of words he had ever spoken to me before, but I guess after the whole Galen compelling shifters, and him being the guinea pig— well the wolf chasing his tail— he had sort of avoided me.
“Thank you.”
He left, and I laid down beside her and wrapped her in a big hug. Saint was her first crush, and even though he left her more confused every time he saw her, this was too far. After what Olivia did to her. That was a low blow, even from him. Maverick had said he had handled it, that Saint really liked her.
Well, if this was how he showed someone he liked them, imagine him being in love. She was better off without him, to have her heart broken now was better than in the long run if he was just going to play games.
“It’s okay, don’t worry about him. You have Huxley. He is taking you to prom, and I have seen the way he looks at you and the way you look at him.”
She turned to me, her eyes bloodshot, her makeup run. She sniffled a few times, and I leant over and grabbed a box of tissues sitting on the nightstand… and oh… there was a lot of used tissues on the floor. “Eeeeww,” I said as I dropped the box next to her, I didn’t know if I wanted to touch it. She looked at it like I was crazy.
“I think this is Lyell’s happy tissue box. Shifters don’t get sick.” Her eyes flared as she looked at the floor and screwed up her face. We both cracked up laughing, oh I had a feeling Lyell would be avoiding me even longer.
The door opened, and it was Jett. “Hey beautiful ladies, I heard the news that you found Lyell’s tissue collection. All those wasted tissues, trees have been cut down so he can wipe his jizz on them. I have told him to jerk off in the shower like everyone else does. I save the planet twice a day, I feel like a hero every time I come.”
My mouth dropped open, and Ada just blinked. “Jett, that was a total overshare. We didn’t want to know that.”
He chuckled. “All guys jerk off, even your mates. You just don’t know, ask them. I dare you.” I slapped him away as he laid down next to Ada and I.
“I know they do, I just didn’t want to know that about you.” I wasn’t stupid, hell I took care of myself a couple of times in the shower, I knew they heard me. They all wore funny grins on their faces when I got out and fought on who was taking the next shower.
He winked at Ada, and she blushed. I knew he was trying to cheer her up, but I couldn’t help it, I rolled my eyes at him and shook my head.
“Ada, you wanna dance with me?” I could hear the music downstairs, and I guess we were getting fireworks soon.
“Ah… okay. I just need to fix my makeup.” She pushed off the bed and straighten her top and went into Lyell’s bathroom. I hoped there were no used tissues in there.
“Oh, just a heads up… your fathers are here and want to see you.” I sat up straighter… fathers?
“Jack and Grayson?” I asked, a smile on my lips. They were here? Was Josh here too?
“Yeah, and Tobias. They were hiding inside and listening with my father. He invited them, after the guys said they were going to claim you. Traditionally the whole pack is here, but they didn’t want it like that, they thought it would be better for you with a smaller group. They have been planning this for about two weeks. We all knew but you. I loved it. And I know Lyell already said it, but I will too. Welcome to the family… sister.”
He gave me a hug, then sat back and looked over to the bathroom.
He patted my leg, “you go to them, I will take care of Ada. And don’t worry. Mekhi is kicking Saint’s ass as we speak.”
That made me laugh. Jett and Mekhi were awesome. I hoped they would one day be able to move on… with someone nice. Maybe someone who could handle Jett. Because he was a handful, just like Ranger.
Chapter Fifty-Four
Lexi
It was strange seeing Tobias in the same room as Jack and Grayson. But they were all laughing and talking like they were old friends.
“Here is the special lady, congratulations.” Grayson was the first to hug me, then Jack. I pulled away and saw Tobias close.
“Congrats my dear, they all will make fine mates for you. I know so.” He tapped his head, and I froze. I didn’t like he could hear their thoughts. That was… well, it was weird, and it was private. You don’t just go around listening to people's thoughts.
“I only want what is best for you, I had to make sure myself. I don’t wish to hear thoughts, I cannot control what I hear and don’t. But I will do my best not to listen in from now on.”
I let out a deep breath and nodded, I guess I was hearing Galen’s thoughts sometimes he didn’t mean for me too. So it must be hard not to listen in.
“Thank you.” I gave him an awkward hug. We were
n’t there yet; things were a little new still. Alaric was next, and I had never hugged him either. But there he was with his arms open and a huge grin. I stepped forward and hugged him. It was… nice.
“Alexis Turner, if I knew months ago that two of my boys would have a strong, independent and intelligent mate. It takes a special person to love my twin boys. They have been through so much and you brought them together. You showed Maverick it was okay to love openly. Ranger has become more grounded, well—” He chuckled, “—less trouble for me.”
I laughed at that. Yeah, he was my trouble now.
“Well, we won’t keep you, your mates are looking for you. Have a great night and we will see you on Tuesday for dinner.”
It felt so good to be accepted like that. All these men were father figures to me, and they accepted my mates.
I ran out and looked for my mates; I wanted to see the fireworks with them. But when I found Ranger, he looked upset.
“Babe? What’s wrong?” I loved the way he reacted to my pet name for him, he called me babe so I started to call him it in return. It was our thing. I was worried he was upset about Olivia and Saint. But when he turned to me, he pouted out his bottom lip.
“Lex, babe. My father took all my fireworks away.” I laughed, and he pouted even more, so I hugged him.
“I know a way I can cheer you up.” He looked down at me. His bottom lip was now between his teeth and he growled.
The next morning, I woke up and smiled to myself. I couldn’t believe the night I had, I ignored the bad part—Olivia— and only focused on the good. I was going to prom; I was claimed by my mates. And today was dress shopping, Ada said we should have shopped weeks ago, and that all the good dresses would be gone. But I wanted to be sure I was going. And I was, I was a little giddy this morning.
